Physical victimization and high-risk sexual partners among illicit drug-using heterosexual men in New York City.

Physical victimization has been linked to high-risk sexual partnerships in women. Although illicit drug-using heterosexual men are at high-risk of physical victimization, the association between violence and high-risk partners in heterosexual men has received little attention in the published literature. We examined the association between experience of severe physical victimization and acquisition of a high-risk sexual partner (i.e., a partner who injected drugs or participated in transactional sex) 1 year later among illicit drug-using men in New York City (2006-2009) using secondary cross-sectional data. Injection and non-injection drug-using men (n = 280) provided a retrospectively recalled history of risk behavior and violence for each year over the past 4 years. Our primary outcome was acquisition of a high-risk sexual partner in any year following the baseline year. Our primary exposure was severe physical victimization (i.e., threatened with a knife or gun, beaten up, shot, or stabbed) in the prior year. Frequency of cocaine, heroin, and crack use and sexual victimization were also assessed. Log-binomial logistic regression with generalized estimating equation (GEE) methods was used to account for repeated measures for up to four time points. After adjustment for important covariates, participants that experienced physical victimization were significantly more likely to have acquired a high-risk sexual partner 1 year later (relative risk (RR), 3.73; 95 % confidence interval (CI), 1.55-8.97). Our study challenges gender-based stereotypes surrounding physical victimization and provides support for multidisciplinary programs that address both violence and HIV risk among illicit drug-using heterosexual men.